1212 The Clemson University Fact Book and Data Center for 20

(12.12) The Clemson University Fact Book and Data Center for 2011 shows that 102 of the university’s 256 assistant professors were women, along with 79 of the 258 associate professors and 73 of the 349 full professors. Step 1: What is the probability that a randomly chosen Clemson professor of any rank is a woman? Give your answer to 4 decimal places.

Solution

The probability that a randomly chosen professor will be women will be the sum of numbers of women professors in all categories divided by the total number of professors.This is because every women professor has got equal probability of being selected irrespective of the rank.

So, required probability = (102+79+73) / (256+258+349) = 254/ 863 = 0.2943

Hence required probability = 0.2943.